CARDIGAN (Aberteifi), municipal borough, Cardiganshire, Wales, situated on the right bank of the Teifi about 3m. above its mouth. (Pop., 1931, 3,309.) It is connected by an ancient stone bridge with the suburb of Bridgend on the southern or Pembroke bank of the river. The castle was originally built by Gruffydd ap Rhys on an old site and was rebuilt by the Normans. It changed hands frequently during the middle ages. During the later part of the 12th century it became the residence of Rhys ap Gruffydd, a powerful Welsh chieftain who ruled over most of south Wales. The castle was finally destroyed by the parliamentarians in 1645. The priory church of St. Mary has been much altered, but in its east window there are remains of ancient glass. About a mile below Cardigan are the ruins of St. Dogmael's abbey, founded in the 12th century by Martin of Tours for the Benedictine order of St. Bernard of Tiron. Henry VIII.'s charter of 1542 con firmed earlier privileges granted by Edward I. and other kings, and provided for the government of the town by a mayor, two bailiffs and a coroner. The 18th and early 19th centuries saw Cardigan a busy river port with an extensive coastal trade, but the advent of steamships together with silting up of the Teifi mouth has brought the trade of the town almost to extinction.